With our city now so laughably unaffordable, thousands of Vancouverites are stuck imagining wonderful homes instead of living in them. “Spaced” is a record of our minds wandering the world of architecture and design, up and away from the unrewarding realities of shoebox condos, dark basement suites, and sweet fuck all on Craigslist.
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(via) This house in Melbourne is awesome on many fronts. For starters, it’s uniquely beautiful – one of a kind. It could also teach Vancouverites a thing or two. THAT House, as it’s called, is located in a community dominated by big houses on big lots. The two-storey construction – essentially three glass-ended rectilinear blocks (one above/bridging two) – by local firm Austin Maynard Architects stands out in that it’s considerably smaller than its neighbours, which allows for lots of outdoor space and terraces, not to mention a pool. The firm is adamant about reducing home size, saying that large homes “are an environmental disaster for our cities, whilst also being a cultural/social disaster for our communities.” In explaining their work, they’ve put words to several Vancouver thoughts:
“Like many of our wonderful clients, the owners of THAT House are keen to able to open up to the community rather than permanently hiding or fortifying themselves. As Australian homes and culture become increasingly inward looking and protective, AMA is reacting against this trend. THAT House can open up to the outdoors, both private and public. Importantly a house that can be very transparent needs to be able to adapt to multiple privacy needs. Hence we have installed upwards blinds to give the owners control over their level of privacy. How many times have you seen huge windows with their blinds permanently down? This happens because of the binary a downward blind creates. A downward blind provides no privacy until it is completely down. An upward blind enables you to cut out almost all view into a home while still being able to look out to the garden, and the street beyond. This gives control over all levels of privacy and intimate control over the light let into each space.”
We’ll take ours in the middle of the West Side, ideally on a big lot between two imposing giants.